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Alec Baldwin and a photographer for the New York Post are trading accusations and harassment claims after an encounter between the actor and the photographer.

In an article published Monday, the newspaper said Baldwin allegedly called the photographer, who is black, a racial epithet and hurled other insults after the photographer and a reporter approached the actor Sunday while he was walking his dogs.

"That's one of the most outrageous things I've heard in my life," Baldwin said in a statement, referring to the accusation that he used a racial epithet.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crime Unit is now involved due to the alleged nature of Baldwin's "rant," according to Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne on Tuesday.

The newspaper, describing the incident as a "confrontation," also said Baldwin, star of NBC's recently wrapped "30 Rock," grabbed the female Post reporter who was with the photographer by the arm and allegedly said, "I want you to choke to death."

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There were no eyewitnesses other than the parties involved, and the reports are still under investigation, according to Browne.

The photographer -- identified by the newspaper as G.N. Miller, "a decorated retired detective with the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau and a staff photographer for The Post" -- and Baldwin both filed police reports for harassment on Sunday. The reports are still under investigation, police Detective Marc Nell said Monday.

Hiltzik specified that the actor's harassment report was filed against the photographer as an individual and not against the newspaper.